Chapter 9: The End of the War

The Austro-Prussian War was a conflict for which preparations had long been made, and one in which the entire German Empire had clearly chosen its side.

The conflict had already begun in April, but due to the hesitation of the King of Prussia, it was not until May that Prussia began its preparations for war.

However, regarding this war, it was clearly Prussia that was the better-prepared party. The Prussians had long been ready to unify Germany, while the Austrians were still immersed in the dream of their empire, unaware that the situation of the Austrian Empire was already extremely perilous.

As time entered June 1866, the flames on the border between Prussia and Austria were further ignited.

The Kingdom of Bavaria in southern Germany attempted to initiate a confederation vote, hoping to use this opportunity to force both Prussia and Austria to cease their war preparations.

But the war preparations of the two countries had reached such a stage that a mere little Bavaria could not stop them.

Following the "Iron Chancellor" Bismarck's declaration that the parliament's decision was invalid and his demand for the dissolution of the Confederation Diet, the entire German region began a vigorous process of choosing sides.

This impending war was not only to decide the victor but also to determine the final master of the German region.

Standing on the side of Prussia were Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, and other states of North Germany, as well as the three free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck.

Standing on the side of Austria were Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, and other members of the German Confederation.

In terms of the number of states, population, and land area, the Austrian side held the advantage. However, in terms of military strength, Prussia was clearly superior to its opponent.

As June 14th officially arrived, this war, for which both sides had long prepared, broke out.

Gao Da was not the least bit worried about this war. Even if it were a one-on-one between Prussia and Austria, Austria could absolutely not be a match for Prussia.

Although the Italian army could not play a major role, it could still pin down a portion of the Austrian army in the early stages of the war.

Moreover, Garibaldi had already prepared an army of over ten thousand men in advance; at the very least, this force would not be a drag.

If the Austrians truly underestimated their enemy, perhaps Italy could not only recover the Venice region but also make demands for the long-coveted South Tyrol region.

It is worth mentioning that because he did not trust Garibaldi to lead the troops alone, Vittorio Emanuele II agreed to the request proposed by Gao Da: to invite Garibaldi's second son, Menotti, to serve as Gao Da's ducal court military attaché.

This position held no real power, as Gao Da was not qualified to have a personal guard.

Menotti's daily task was to accompany Gao Da to the military academy for studies, while also handling some miscellaneous chores for Gao Da.

While Gao Da was engaged in his day-after-day of dull and boring military studies, the war between Prussia and Austria was also raging in full swing.

Although the entire battlefield was divided into three fronts, the one that played the decisive role was the battlefield located in the Bohemia region.

This was not only where the main forces of the Prussian and Austrian armies clashed, but also the most essential part of the Austrian Empire.

The good news was that Gao Da, relying on his own connections, could easily obtain the latest battle reports from the front and publish them in his *24-Hour Sun*.

Along with occasionally including some news about Garibaldi, he had completely solidified the status of the *Italian 24-Hour Sun* in the Italian media landscape.

Riding the tailwinds of the outbreak of this war, the daily sales of the *Italian Sun* had already exceeded 15, 00 copies and were rapidly advancing toward 20, 00 copies per day.

If not for the limitations of the printing and communication technologies of this era on the newspaper's expansion, the *Sun* could likely have used this opportunity to become the largest newspaper in Italy.

The entire war did not last long, because Prussia feared that France would intervene, causing the war to start with a bang and end with a whimper.

The good news was that Italy successfully obtained the reward for participating in the war: the complete Venice region and a portion of South Tyrol.

The bad news was that the Italian army and Vittorio Emanuele II both displayed an extremely poor performance during the war; the performance of over a hundred thousand Italian troops was not even as good as Garibaldi's force of over ten thousand.

However, as the saying goes, the flaws do not obscure the virtues; compared to the nationwide celebration brought by the recovery of Venice and the annexation of half of South Tyrol, Vittorio Emanuele II's poor military command could be actively ignored by the Italian public.

At least on this matter, Vittorio Emanuele II and Garibaldi had reached a compromise.

Garibaldi hoped to see a unified and powerful Italy in his lifetime, while Vittorio Emanuele II hoped to complete the great goal of unifying Italy during his tenure; the two could be said to have hit it off immediately.

There were also benefits for Gao Da.

The suggestion for Garibaldi to recruit troops and prepare for war had been proposed by Gao Da, and the facts proved it was very effective.

If Garibaldi's army had not played a major role on the southern front, it would have been very difficult for Italy to recover Venice, let alone annex a portion of the South Tyrol region.

The biggest factor in this was Prussia's fear of French intervention.

In the original history, after the Italian army was routed, Garibaldi was entrusted with a critical mission and, with a hastily assembled force of 38, 00 men, defeated the Austrian army multiple times, nearly reaching the Tyrol region.

But at that time, Prussia, fearing French intervention, demanded that the Italian government withdraw its troops immediately with an extremely tough attitude.

Garibaldi had no choice but to withdraw from South Tyrol, which also meant that Italy only gained the Venice region that the Austrians had voluntarily abandoned in this war.

But now, because of Garibaldi's proactive strike, they had already captured more than half of South Tyrol before the Prussians demanded a withdrawal.

This became the leverage for the Italian diplomatic department to demand South Tyrol; although they ultimately obtained less than half of South Tyrol, it was at least more than what was gained in the original history.

Compared to Italy, the Kingdom of Prussia was definitely the country that gained the most from this war.

After this war ended, the German Confederation announced its dissolution, and Austria had lost its control over the German region.

Prussia leaped to become the leader of all states in the German region and annexed the Kingdom of Hanover, becoming the new hegemon of the German region.

This was still quite friendly for a country like Italy. With Prussia attracting the attention of Britain and France, Italy could develop in a low-profile manner for a period of time, and Gao Da would not have to worry about some of his operations causing greater accidents.

Seeking monthly tickets, seeking recommendation tickets, seeking follow-up reads, seeking investment!

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(End of this chapter)